I recently acquired a Beseler Dual Mode Slide Duplicator from eBay model 4100. I've played around with it some and I'm ready to start batch processing my 35mm slides and 35mm color negatives to RAWs. I have a few questions from those that have used this unit before I spend a lot of time on batch camera scanning.

1) When scanning my slides and negatives, do you adjust the focus for each individual shot or do you adjust the focus once and batch photograph the slides? Maybe the focus would depend on the thickness of the slide mount? I would expect live view would be helpful in the case of focusing.

2) I had planned on using the bellows with the included Nikon EL enlarging lens. In another thread (http://thedambook.com/smf/index.php?topic=3959.0), it mentions a universal camera mount that allows you to use a macro lens without the bellows. Is this the preferred way of camera scanning or does the bellows and enlarging lens work better? If so, I've never seen this universal camera mount mentioned before; where can I get one? Nothing came up on a Google search.

3) I have both a D700 and D300. Is there any advantage to using the D300 because of the DX crop using the sweet spot of the enlarging lens?

4) Do you find auto white balance works best or do you set your white balance for incandescent? I assume incandescent is the correct color temp for the bulbs.?

5) I've used my unit for less than 1 hour and I've already blown a bulb. On a whim, I took my unit apart and measured the voltage coming out of the lightbulb socket. I measured it at 120V which strikes me as odd given that 82V, 250W bulbs are the correct bulb type. It would seem that 120V is way too much for an 82V blub. Has anyone else observed this with their units? Do you find the Beseler Dual Mode Slide Duplicator goes through bulbs quickly?

regarding #2... I have both. A good enlarging lens setup is preferable but the universal mount/macro lens is more convenient in some cases... and with a proper lens... very good quality as well. Either will work well if the lenses are good. It just depends on the size of the original and the type of camera doing the copying as to what is most convenient to use.

I bought my system in the late 80's and got it pretty much loaded with every accessory available including the universal camera mount (I'm not positive that that's exactly how Beseler officially described it). The base plate of the bellows unit is removed from the column and the Universal Camera Mount goes in its place. It turns the system into something akin to a miniature regular copy stand. The mount adjusts so that cameras of almost any shape can be positioned directly and squarely over the light source.

I use the tungsten light source only for focusing. I'd use the built in strobe to actually illuminate the exposure. Therefore daylight balance is more appropriate. With old film that's going to need a lot of individual tweaking auto white balance may be beneficial to your particular work flow.

I focus each individual frame when I want maximum quality. If I'm going for quantity/speed where final use is less than super resolution (images for an electronic slide presentation maybe) then I may just focus once for film of a similar type in similar mounts. With the lens stopped down well there's enough depth of field to yield good if not great focus without checking each individual frame. Note... using a regular autofocus macro lens instead of the bellows means fast custom focus on every frame.